Surface modification of natural fibers using bacteria: depositing bacterial cellulose onto natural fibers to create hierarchical fiber reinforced nanocomposites.

Triggered biodegradable composites made entirely from renewable resources are urgently sought after to improve material recyclability or be able to divert materials from waste streams. Many biobased polymers and natural fibers usually display poor interfacial adhesion when combined in a composite material. Here we propose a way to modify the surfaces of natural fibers by utilizing bacteria ( Acetobacter xylinum) to deposit nanosized bacterial cellulose around natural fibers, which enhances their adhesion to renewable polymers.

Impact of protein size distribution on gluten thermal reactivity and functional properties.

Wheat gluten structure was modified in different ways: Disulfide bonds were reduced by sulfitolysis, or protein chains were enzymatically hydrolyzed at three different degrees of proteolysis. A kinetic study of the thermal reactivity of the modified glutens showed that gluten aggregation kinetic was slowed in consequence to the shift of gluten size distribution toward smaller proteins. In contrary to sulfitolysis, proteolysis also affected the gluten reactivity potential because of the formation of numerous nonreactive species.